Schoolboy who sent threatening voice note being home-schooled

The young man who, last month, threatened in a voice note to carry out acts of violence against his schoolmates at Wolmer's Boys' School in Kingston, has been withdrawn from the school population and is now being taught at home.

Adamant that the teenager, who is scheduled to sit external examinations this May and June, was not expelled, Minister of Education Ruel Reid told The Gleaner yesterday that the move was to protect him from any embarrassment.

"There is no expulsion! Based on what took place, there was an agreement to have him home-schooled. The truth is, with the embarrassment and all, the whole idea is to have a healing process where he is concerned," Reid said.

"Measures have been taken to protect him," the minister indicated. "What I have asked my staff to do is to journey with him. I don't want something like this to happen with somebody and we don't journey with him or her, so they don't fall into remission."

Reid underscored that Jamaica needs to return to a state where adults showed care to every child to save them.

"This is a wake-up call. Everybody is doing their own thing and forget these youngsters. If our country can go back to that stage where we cared, a lot of the crime and anti-social behaviour we currently have would be stemmed," Reid noted.